


The Principles of Mathematics

by Cantatrice18



Category: Matilda (1996), Matilda - Roald Dahl
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Introspection, Mathematics, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:14:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24575164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cantatrice18/pseuds/Cantatrice18
Summary: Math is steady and constant in Matilda's life, providing a framework for how she sees the world. She never expects her own equations to change.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	The Principles of Mathematics

**The Associative Property states that a group of numbers or variables can be added in any order, and the sum remains the same. (A + B) + C = A + (B + C).**

Matilda found that this also applied to her family. Whether her father returned from selling cars before or after her mother arrived home from Bingo, the end result would be the same: family gathered around the TV, staring numbly at a game show with a cardboard-cutout host and his glamorous assistant. (Matilda + Mother) + Father = Matilda + (Father + Mother). Order didn’t matter. Only the sum total.

**The Identity Property of Addition states that a number plus zero remains unchanged. A + 0 = A.**

This was also true. No matter how many books Matilda read, how many imagined conversations she had with Oliver Twist or mad Captain Ahab, she remained herself. An integer. Unchanged. 

**The Distributive Property states that A(B + C) = AB + AC. The first variable distributes without halving or undergoing change.**

Each day Matilda distributed herself between her house and the library, never allowing the dull emptiness of home to take away from her complete being. Never allowing her family to halve her spirit. 

Mathematical properties were beacons of reason, stalwart friends Matilda could fall back on. They would always be there, always be true. 

Until they weren’t. 

Until one day, Matilda’s presence changed the sum total. Until she shifted from integer to variable, from known to unknown. Until suddenly she was distributed unequally, the bulk of her mind and heart attached to a new person, a constant with a kind smile and a beautiful soul. Matilda was no longer an afterthought, added to other people’s preexisting equations. She was a radical, a factorial, and she would divide the world by zero if she had to, to keep her constant safe. The Principles of Mathematics would never be the same.


End file.
